China issues fresh warnings on travelling, studying in Australia

Canberra needs to ‘squarely face the problem’ of rising discrimination, foreign ministry says

Latest remarks come after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says country will ‘never be intimidated by threats’ or ‘trade our values in response to coercion’

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China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Australia needs to face the problem of rising discrimination. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 6:43pm, 11 Jun 2020Updated: 2:57am, 12 Jun 2020

China doubled down on its travel and study warnings for Australia on Thursday, as the rift between the two countries deepened following Canberra’s push for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.

Australian authorities needed to “squarely face the problem” of rising discrimination in the country, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, adding that it was Beijing’s responsibility to issue warnings to protect its citizens.

“I don’t know where the Australian leader’s so-called reference to coercion is coming from, and why are ‘values’ being pulled into this too?” she said.

“As for discrimination and violence in Australia, it has been widely seen in Australian media and online for some time, and China’s embassy in Australia has received a lot of complaints and requests for help. If the Australian side is not even willing or too scared to admit these truths, then I don’t know where this so-called confidence is coming from?”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the island nation provides the best tourism and education products in the world. Photo: EPA-EFE

The ministry’s comments came after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison criticised Beijing’s warning to Chinese citizens to avoid studying in or travelling to Australia because of a rise in racist attacks on people of Asian descent during the Covid-19 pandemic.